If you have a plot of land in Texas that you are not using or acreage attached to your home property that you rarely take advantage of, leasing your land out for hunting might be for you. Leasing your land out for hunting is a great way to use your land to bring in additional funds that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to achieve. Leasing your land out is also great for hunters, who are consistently looking for additional places to hunt in Texas. If leasing your land out for hunting seems like the right step for you and your property, you should continue reading. Below, this guide will discuss the various types of hunting leases out there, the benefits leasing out your land could provide, and what the actual leasing process looks like.
The Various Types of Hunting Leases
In Texas, there are a few different types of hunting leases that are common. The three most common types of leases often seen in Texas are farmland leases, timberland leases, and wildlife species specific leases. The first two types of hunting leases are self explanatory. A farmland lease grants hunters access to your fields and farmlands, while a timberland lease grants hunters access to specific timberlands on your property. The third type of lease, a specific wildlife species lease, grants hunters the permission to hunt a specific species on your property, but does not allow them to hunt all species found on the property. An example of a specific wildlife species lease, would be one for whitetailed deer or wild hogs.
When asking yourself, how to lease land for hunting, you should take a look at your property and understand what you are comfortable with. If you have acres of timber that you hardly ever use, it might not be a bad idea to lease out those acres to a few hunters.
The Benefits of Leasing Land for Hunting
While you are asking yourself, how to lease land for hunting, you should also be asking what benefits will leasing my land grant me? The most obvious benefit is increased income that you don’t have to work too hard to obtain. The income generated from leasing out your land is entirely passive and can be used to pay down property taxes or improve your property. In addition to extra income, leasing out your hunting land can also allow you to reduce trespassing and reduce damage caused by wildlife.
When wildlife populations go unchecked they can get out of control and start to affect your crops or even your land. If you do not hunt yourself, then leasing out your land is a great way to make sure the wildlife populations present on your land are held in check.
The Hunting Lease Process
The first step to leasing out your land for hunting in Texas, is to obtain a hunting lease license from the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. It is important to note that this license is only required if you are attempting to receive income for leasing out your land. If you are leasing out your land for free so that hunters can keep your wildlife in check, then you will not need to obtain a license.
After you obtain the necessary hunting lease license, you will then need to place your property onto a leasing website where potential lessees can check out your property and see if it suits their needs. Once a lessee reaches out to you to move forward with the leasing process, you can then together work out a leasing contract that states the parameters of your deal. Important parameters to include in the leasing contract include length of lease, access restrictions, species restrictions, and time of day restrictions.
Leasing Land For Hunting in Texas
While leasing out your land for hunting in Texas requires a special licnese, the process can still be very rewarding and easy to get started with. As you now know, leasing out your land for hunting is a great way to earn passive income, control the wildlife populations present on your land, and eliminate trespassing occurrences from taking place on your land. If you are interested in leasing out your land, you should start the license process with the TPW.